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Harmful Employment Effects of Obama Amnesty Are Observed

It may be that Obama’s use of the phrase “work authorization” may be more alarming to the American public than the term “amnesty,” because while the latter can be mentally filed away in the immigration category, anything having to do with employment affects everyone directly or indirectly. Creating 2-3 million additional legal workers overnight to compete with citizens in this brutal economy gets universal attention.

“Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people. Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings and apply for work authorization.”

Even the Washington Post expressed concern about the negatives for Americans (!) . . .

President Obama has just opened a floodgate of opportunity for young illegal immigrants in the United States, but could it squeeze the aspirations of legal Americans in the process?

Across the nation Friday, immigrant advocates and Hispanic youth groups hailed Obama’s decision to offer legal status to some undocumented immigrants under 30 as a watershed in U.S. immigration history and a long-sought victory for ambitious youths denied a chance to realize the American dream.

“I thank God for this day. It has changed my whole life,” Jorge Acuna, 19, a college student in Silver Spring who came to the United States with his family as a child, told a cheering crowd outside the White House on Friday afternoon, minutes after Obama announced the new policy. Last spring, the community college student was nearly deported to his native Colombia. Now, under the amnesty, he will be able to pursue his degree in engineering.

But opponents of illegal immigration warned that the policy could create significant new competition for jobs and university slots at a time of nationwide recession and numerous states’ efforts to curb public spending.

“I see a tidal wave coming,” said Brad Botwin, president of Help Save Maryland, a group that opposes legalization for undocumented immigrants. “Half of our college graduates today can’t find jobs, and the unemployment rate for high-school-aged Americans is extremely high. This is unfair to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who are out there struggling to get ahead.” [. . .]

The unemployment rate for foreign-born workers in the United States is lower than the unemployment rate for native-born workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The BLS’s non-seasonally adjusted data show that unemployment among foreign born workers in May 2012 was 7.4 percent, while for native-born workers it was 8.0. [. . .]

Yet the President thinks five months before the election is a good time to backstab young Americans in order to hispander up a few votes. And it’s doubtful that any changed votes based on Obama’s administrative amnesty will turn a state from red to blue.